Thursday, September 15, 2016

balla et ses balladins @ 45tours

Vacillon added 9/14/16.Nanfoule added 4/23/13 (belated thanks to Nauma.) The Balladins stand alongside Bembeya Jazz as the most sophisticated of Guinea's golden age authenticité bands, among so many great ones. Their Syliphone 45s hold much of their absolute best work, stunning in its quality and variety, as the Sakhodougou - Samba - Kognö Koura sequence shows. Whether languid or swinging, you can pretty much count on quivering Latin horns as well as electric guitars that use surf, soul and psychedelia to recast ancient stories in service of a revolution. This collection is now complete, the heretofore missing b-side Vacillon a very fine guitar workout.